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Gloucester Rugby

Gloucester Rugby

Oliver Thorley debuts for
Gloucester in Rugby’s LV=Cup

Having
been selected for Gloucester Rugby's First Team on Thursday, Oliver Thorley (L6,
BH) played at centre in the LV=Cup against Northampton Saints on Saturday.

Aged
just 17 years and 59 days, less than half the age of World Cup winner Mike
Tindall who lined up alongside him, Ollie is the youngest player by 71 days to
debut for Gloucester in the professional era overtaking Billy Burns, who made
his first appearance in February last year.

Ollie,
who has excelled in sport throughout his school career, joined Cheltenham
College Junior School (now The Prep) in Reception just before the age of 5
and went on to become a Sports Scholar at the age of 11. He was selected for
the England Under 18 squad earlier this year and has trained with the England U18
Performance Camp this term. He played for the England U18s in a match against
Northampton Saints Academy last weekend where the England U18s triumphed 27-19.

Nigel Davies, Director of
Rugby at Gloucester Rugby told This is Gloucester over the weekend, “Ollie is
an exceptional talent – he is very young and has only just turned 17 – but he
is very mature for his age.He
is a quality player and has a big future ahead of him. We don't want to get
ahead of ourselves but, the fact that we're involving him in the match day
squad, speaks volumes about what his potential is."

Tom
Richardson, Head of Rugby at Cheltenham College added, “We are tremendously
proud of Ollie. Although the match was won by Northampton, Ollie had an excellent game and
clearly deserved his place on the pitch alongside a number of big names in the
professional game”

We look forward to following Ollie's
progress playing both for Gloucester and England.

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